Bill Buckwalter, son of Gayle Buckwalter speaks to the media outside the courtroom after sentencing. Taden Lee Jones, a 19-year-old man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison March 13, 2017 in Centennial, Colorado for the death of Gayle Buckwalter, 82, and Audrey Burton, 77 on April 6, 2016.

As Jones was being interviewed by Arapahoe County sheriff’s deputies about causing the April 1 crash, prosecutors said the teenager — a popular football player who was a year out of Arapahoe High School and struggling with addiction — was preoccupied with himself, asking about his cellphone and wondering if he was going to “be responsible for those two girls.”

Warning: The video below contains graphic language.

“His first instinct was to deny his accountability,” assistant district attorney Rory Devlin said in court Monday. “He was so impaired, he shouldn’t have even been handling keys.”

Jones pleaded guilty in January to two counts of vehicular homicide while driving under the influence. On Monday, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison — six years for each death, to be served consecutively. Arapahoe County District Judge Phillip L. Douglass also ordered that the now-19-year-old serve five years of parole upon his release.

People in the courtroom sobbed as Jones apologized to his victims’ families.

“I could have prevented their deaths from happening,” he said. “At any point that day, I could have made a different choice. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I humbly accept whatever the outcome is.”

Jones, who has since undergone addiction treatment, was led from the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind his back. Prosecutors asked that he be sentenced to at least 20 years in prison while his defense attorney requested the teen be sent to community corrections.

Judge sentences Taden Jones to 6 years in prison on each death, to be served consecutively

Investigators say Jones was driving an Acura between 60 and 70 mph in a 35 mph zone when he slammed into the sedan driven by Burton. He told investigators he had consumed three beers in the hour before the crash and, according to court testimony, his blood-alcohol level was 0.10. Prosecutors say he also had enough THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, in his blood to be presumed intoxicated on pot.

Taden Jones

Beth Johnson, Burton’s daughter, recounted in court Monday the experience of finding out about her mother’s death.

“I thought this had to be a horrible April Fool’s joke gone wrong,” she said. “Seeing my mom’s car on the news solidified it was not.”

Johnson asked that Jones be given a lengthy prison sentence, saying “Taden’s family isn’t losing anything until they bury someone.”

Buckwalter’s loved ones, however, publicly forgave the teen and asked the court to give him a sentence that while punitive, “doesn’t ruin his life.”

Members of her family embraced and spoke with Jones’ relatives after the penalty was read.

“Mostly we just hugged really tight and cried,” said Buckwalter’s son, Bill. “I was really bitter and angry at times throughout this year. (Jones) has made an about-face. I just hope he doesn’t return to addiction. I just hope he never touches alcohol again.”

Jones arrest affidavit says he was driving at a high rate of speed down Colorado Boulevard when he entered the left-hand lane to pass a slowing vehicle. The women were in a car trying to make a left turn across the boulevard from Peakview when Jones slammed into them “T-bone style,” investigators wrote in court documents.

Authorities say Jones had several other teens in his car, one of whom had minor injuries after the wreck.

Investigators say they also found what appeared to be a fake South Carolina driver’s license for Jones that showed him as being 23 years old.

“Am I getting a ticket for the crash?” Jones asked a deputy before he was booked into jail, the affidavit said.

Jones family members testified that the teen, who grew up without a father, was a “great kid” who had made a horrible mistake. They said he had been traumatized by the 2013 Arapahoe High School shooting, though he had gone home sick the day the shooting happened and didn’t know the victim, Claire Davis.

“He wasn’t always the way that he was (when the crash happened),” said Jones defense attorney, Suzanne Rogers. “Addiction does change people. Taden was arrogant. He was full of himself. He let the addiction control him.”

Politics reporter. He has worked at The Denver Post since the summer of 2014, covering cops, courts, politics, environment, skiing and everything in between. He loves telling stories about Colorado's mountain towns and the Eastern Plains and wants to make sure our newspaper's great work extends into their communities.

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